Problem: Brandon bought a new backpack at the store when they were having a $30\%$ off sale. If the regular price of the backpack was $$72$, how much did Brandon pay with the discount?
First, find the amount of the discount by multiplying the original price of the of the item by the discount. $$72$ $\times$ $30\%$ $=$ Percent means "out of one hundred," so $30\%$ is equivalent to $\frac{30}{100}$ which is also equal to $30 \div 100$ $30 \div 100 = 0.30$ Multiply the discount you just converted into a decimal by the original price to find the amount of money saved. $0.30$ $\times$ $$72$ $ = $ $$21.60$ Subtract the discount you just found from the original price to get the final price Brandon paid. $$72$ $-$ $$21.60$ $ = $ $$50.40$ Brandon paid $$50.40$ for the backpack.